Operation Ruthless Raven: OSI cracks down on drug smugglers

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Carolyn Gwathmey
  • Headquarters Air Force Office of Special Investigations
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. (AFPN) --  The Air Force Office of Special Investigations is heading up Operation Ruthless Raven, a joint task force to combat drug smuggling. 

Ruthless Raven Task Force goals are to identify vulnerabilities in the Air Force transportation and mail systems and to leverage internal and external capabilities to counter the threat of drug smuggling. 

The task force, requested by the Air Force chief of staff, has two components: an internal Air Force element and a joint element comprised of Air Force, Department of Defense and other federal law enforcement agencies.

The Air Force element has representatives from OSI, security forces, Air Force Reserve Command, Air National Guard and other functional experts. 

The joint element includes the Naval Criminal Investigations Service, Army Criminal Investigations Division, U.S. Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Drug Enforcement Agency and U.S. Postal inspectors. 

The task force works with Air Mobility Command and U.S. Transportation Command to identify high-risk target areas. It identifies overseas locations where narcotics are readily available and matches them up with the numbers of military aircraft transiting those locations. Once that data is compiled, the task force analyzes the results, determines the target areas and selects flights to be inspected. 

“We focused the bulk of our efforts on these target areas,” said Colonel Edward Hagerty, OSI's Ruthless Raven Task Force commander. “We need to use our resources judiciously and try to direct our efforts to the areas we think will be most fruitful.” 

OSI agents at seven CONUS bases, supported by security forces as well as agents from numerous federal and local law enforcement agencies, conducted inspections of carefully targeted aircraft arriving from overseas locations during October. U.S. Customs people seized several items of contraband, but no narcotics were found. 

“That doesn’t mean we can afford to take our eye off the ball with this,” said OSI Commander Col. Dana Simmons. “That’s why the next phase of sustained random inspections will be an important contribution to keeping our Air Force drug free.” 

Several incidents in the past year have brought a need to focus more attention on drug smuggling to the forefront. Two events stand out: Thirty-five pounds of cocaine was discovered aboard a C-17 Globemaster III based out of Charleston, S.C., that was en route from Colombia to Texas, and a C-5 Galaxy from Stewart Air National Guard in N.Y., arrived home from Germany with 290,000 tabs of ecstasy. 

Drug smugglers are also using the mailing system. For example, U.S. Postal inspectors in Florida intercepted a package with Ketamine, a narcotic, en route to Kunsan Air Base, Korea. In another case, Japanese customs officials intercepted a package from Mississippi to Yokota AB, Japan, containing 40 grams of marijuana. 

“In the wake of 9-11, we and other investigative units focused more intently on our counterintelligence and antiterrorism mission,” Colonel Hagerty said. “While this focus was necessary, it also provided opportunities for things like this to happen. Still, we can’t drop what we’re doing in the force protection arena and focus all of our attention on drug smuggling. We do, however, need to strike a balance between the two missions.” 

Along with inspections, another component of the task force’s efforts will involve education. The educational aspect of this campaign will be widespread. Not only will bases receive the education needed to detect and deter, but OSI also plans to begin widespread random inspections throughout the Air Force. 

Operation Ruthless Raven will also target those using the military postal service for illegal drug smuggling. 

“We have amazing technology that can readily disclose the presence of narcotics in sealed packages,” said Special Agent Bernard Rich, OSI drug program manager. “We also have an incredible low-tech capability in the form of drug dogs that can sniff out even the most cleverly disguised narcotics.”